There is provided a water treatment method using a water treatment flocculant that suffers from minimal secondary contamination with flocculation residues and contains an alkaline solution of a phenolic resin. A water treatment method involving the addition of a flocculant to water to be treated and subsequent membrane separation treatment. The flocculant contains an alkaline solution of a phenolic resin having a melting point in the range of 130° C. to 220° C. The water treatment flocculant is produced by a resole-type second-order reaction in the presence of an alkaline catalyst in which an aldehyde is added to an alkali solution of a novolak phenolic resin. The novolak phenolic resin is produced by a reaction between a phenol and an aldehyde in the presence of an acid catalyst.